Bryce Wettstein is from a beach town in Encinitas, CA, and part of the new wave of skaters gearing up for a long career. She’s currently sitting in an eighth-place overall position in the World Skate rankings and first place in the United States. Get to know the Olympic hopeful as she reveals more about her favorite music to listen to, family karaoke sessions at home, and shares her specially curated music playlist.
Have you been skating very much lately?
Yeah, I’ve been skating a lot; there’s this fun little ditch nearby my house.
What type of music do you like listening to?
My favorite type of music would be a crazy combination of the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s music. Kind of all grouped into each other.
So you’re into some of the older decades for music?
Exactly. And honestly, you know those songs that have those crazy beats to them like Forget You by Cee Lo Green? Those songs that you could make up your own little dance moves to.
Who are some of your favorite artists from those eras?
There are so many amazing ones. I’d probably say I love Cee Lo Green, Alphaville’s Forever Young, The Buggles’ Video Killed the Radio Star. I love Bob Marley a lot and Cindy Lauper, Tiffany’s I Think We’re Alone Now, 1999 by Prince. Just a bunch of that kind of music.
Would you say being quarantined has changed what you have been listening to?
Oh my goodness, for sure. I think being quarantined has thrown little twists at me, especially like Mozart or Beethoven. I think it’s ‘cause I have a piano in my house and I’ve been spending a little more time on the piano and with more instruments and other art projects. So, I’ve just been listening to classical music. It inspires me to let the innovative part of me come out. I like listening to it while occupied. My family and I will dance to it and do really weird dance moves. (laughs)
What do you typically listen to when working on an art project?
Ok, so there’s a big spectrum, but probably at the beginning it’s classical. No lyrics at all just pure musical frequencies. At the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s the crazy beat music like Spanish party. I think music in different languages is so beautiful and so much fun to dance to.
What is it about classical music that inspires you?
What inspires me is the feeling that I want to be liberated from everyday conversation. So that’s why I guess I’ll cross the barrier into songs in different languages because It’s just a completely new path and a new perspective. With classical music, I feel so much liberation.
What music do you play to hype you up to go skate?
I’ll play Forget You by Cee Lo Green, that is just my go-to. That’s a big one, and something like 1999 by Prince is a fun one. Another is I Think We’re Alone Now by Tiffany. I love that one.
Do you listen to music while you compete?
I don’t wear headphones. I totally would if I didn’t lose them or if I didn’t feel them [in]. I don’t like music playing in my ear while I’m skating. I love to listen to music before skating or listen to whatever the DJ is playing.
What about when you skate by yourself or at a skatepark?
I listen to it out loud. I have this little mini speaker, and my friends and I will play a bunch of music on that.
What about around the house?
I feel like we’re always playing music around the house, especially with the Alexa. My whole family, we take turns playing songs sometimes, and we’ll just be running around the house singing and dancing.
I actually enjoy playing music acoustically with my family like the ukulele or guitar or piano and singing and playing karaoke.
There is one more thing that is fun is listening to Disney songs like from the movie Enchanted. My sister and I will pull up these songs from Disney movies, and they’re like classic love songs with all this energy and fun rhymes. It’s so much fun. We dance around the house singing to Disney songs sometimes.
Is your family big on playing instruments?
Yeah, my mom loves the guitar she messes around on that a lot, and sometimes we’ll experiment with harmonies. My dad, he likes to rap some weird tunes which are fun. My sister and I will sometimes sing karaoke on a big microphone. I love playing on the piano and ukulele I feel like their both compatible with each other. I enjoy the ukulele, especially when it’s quiet I’ll dim the lights, and we’ll start singing into a mic with the ukulele, and we’ll blast with that.
What’s your go-to karaoke song with the family?
Right now, it’s Sweet Child O’ Mine the Captain Fantastic version, and also Neil Young’s She Rides a Harley Davidson.
Any instruments that you’d like to learn how to play?
I would love to learn how to play the saxophone just because I like the sounds it makes and would like to learn more on the piano because now I’m just learning the basic things.
Any skate videos that opened you up to new music?
We Blew It At Some Point and all the other Polar videos. I love the Polar videos because they mesh random elements and create a blend and then put music over. It sounds so nice, and it works with the skaters themselves.
What’s your dream skate video song?
Oh my gosh, that’s a hard one. Could there be multiple songs? Maybe it could start with like some classical music and dive into Cosmic Girl by Jamiroquai. Maybe 1999 (Prince) – that’s a good song, or You Can’t Hurry Love by Phil Collins.
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